JUST IN: Paul Pogba’s Four-Year Doping Ban Reduced To 18 Months

JUST IN: Paul Pogba’s Four-Year Doping Ban Reduced To 18 Months—France and Juventus forward, Paul Pogba is set to resume playing again early next year following a long break from football occasioned by a doping ban.

 

Pogba was in September 2023 handed a four-year provisional ban for anti-doping offence.

At the time, Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal (Nado) said Pogba returned a test with elevated levels of testosterone after Juve’s 3-0 win at Udinese on 20 August.

The four-year ban has now been reduced to 18 months following a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

Cas director general Matthieu Reeb confirmed to Reuters the ban had been reduced to 18 months from 11 September, 2023.

In a statement, Pogba said: “Finally the nightmare is over. I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.

“I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.

“I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.

“This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”

The French forward will be eligible to play from March, 2025.